Judiciary Committee Set to Pass Anti-Piracy Bill

Source: 
Author: 
Coverage Type: 

The PROTECT IP Act, a bill aimed at cracking down on rogue sites that steal content or sell counterfeit goods, is on the fast track.

Introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) just two weeks ago, the bill will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs. It's likely to sail through the committee, especially because 12 of the committee's 18 members are co-sponsors. The content community—TV programmers, the movie and music industries, book publishers, and entertainment unions—has been pushing for legislation for years. A version of this bill legislation passed the committee 19-0 last year, only to be stopped by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who put a hold on it. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has come out strongly against the bill. A group of 13 public interest organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, and the Center for Democracy and Technology, chimed in with a letter sent Wednesday to Leahy and ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Acknowledging the Protect IP Act as an improvement over last year's version, the groups said they are still concerned about provisions that would allow Internet service providers to interfere with domain name look up services as well as what they consider overly broad requirements for search engines and hyperlinks.


Judiciary Committee Set to Pass Anti-Piracy Bill Fair Use Fans Call for More PROTECT IP Act Changes (Broadcasting&Cable)